CAMEO Citizen Science Program

Project Leader: Dr. Tina Miller-Way

Project Details

Overview

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s newest citizen science program, CAMEO, gives you a chance to participate in scientific research.
CAMEO stands for Citizen’s Archive for Mobile Bay Estuarine Organisms.
Data collected through the program will enable us to answer questions about and understand how Mobile Bay is changing over time.

CAMEO’s citizen scientists will collect data on a number of common and rare fish and invertebrate species in Mobile Bay by participating in DISL’s education program (Discovery Hall) vessel-based classes for school students. These classes use DISL’s research vessel, the Alabama Discovery, and include a trawling activity that allows students to see and learn about Mobile Bay’s estuarine animals. Citizen scientists will accompany these trips, record abundance data for a specific list of species and enter these data into an online data system.

If you are interested, please look at the participation criteria below and review the available training sessions. To reach us with additional questions, please email us at cameo@disl.edu, or contact us at 251-861-2141, 7515.

Interested in Participating

We are excited that you are interested. To meet DISL regulations, ensure the safety of everyone onboard and respect everyone’s time and effort, we ask the following of our citizen scientists:

  1. sign DISL’s vessel waiver,
  2. sign DISL’s media release,
  3. be comfortable and able to move about freely on the Alabama Discovery (a 63-foot vessel),
  4. attend at least 1 training session (~3 hrs),
  5. pass an identification quiz annually,
  6. be able to use our online data entry system from your smartphone or device provided,
  7. make a commitment to participate in at least 3 boat trips annually,
  8. understand that boat trip plans may change at the last minute due to weather and other logistical issues and some rescheduling may be necessary.

Upcoming Training Sessions

There are currently no training sessions scheduled at this time.

To register for training sessions, please complete this google form and register for the session you would like to attend. If you have any problems or questions, please send an email to cameo@disl.edu.

Please note that we will get back in touch with you to confirm your registration. If you do not hear from us within a couple of days, please let us know.

Funding

Funding for this project provided by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, State Lands Division, Coast Section, in part, by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Coastal Management, NOAA Award #19NOS4190137.

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